


Teach Me

by kd_works



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, F/F, Falling In Love, Fluff, Hogwarts, Jealousy, Romance, Smut, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2019-01-03 21:12:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12154899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kd_works/pseuds/kd_works
Summary: After the Wizarding War at Hogwarts, Headmistress McGonagall is having trouble finding professors to teach classes. She's in need of two more professors. She, herself, can teach the potions class for now, but she's still in need of a professor to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. Luckily enough, she gets a note from the Ministry telling her they've found the perfect witch for the job...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing a Wizarding World fic! I've been reading other fics in the fandom (Bellamione) for a couple months now and I just couldn't wait to add to the collection. I've fallen quite head over heels for Bellamione <3

_“Harry Potter is dead”, the words bounced off the cold stone of the school, echoing about the grounds. The crowd stared at the Dark Lord in shock and soft murmurs hung in the air. The words ran through Hermione’s body, sending a shiver down her spine. After everything they had been through together and how hard they had fought, how could it end this way? She couldn’t believe it. No. She wouldn’t. The weight of it all became too much for her to bare, pulling the girl to her knees._

_“No!”, a voice shrieked, evoking a grin from the Dark Lord. The body belonging to the voice emerged from the crowd, running towards Hagrid, who held Harry’s lifeless body in his arms. Hermione watched as the ginger haired girl suddenly tumbled to the ground, her muscles too weak from battle to carry her to her fallen loved one. The girl threw her hands over her head and sobbed uncontrollably into the rubble beneath her, unable to cope with all the emotions she’d been flooded with. “You monster!”, the words were muffled by her sobs._

_“How dare you speak like that of your Lord”, the Dark Lord’s most valued follower spat. The death eater dressed in a black corseted robe slowly stepped forwards, raising her wand to the ginger haired girl. “It’s not polite”, she over articulated the last word, biting out the ‘t’. The dark witch tilted her head as she took a step forward, swaying her hips. “Little red needs to learn some manners”, Bellatrix purred. The Dark Lord grinned as he watched his most loyal getting ready to strike._

_Why isn’t Ginny moving? Doesn’t she know she’s in danger? The girl was still sobbing uncontrollably, her own noise must’ve drowned out the death eater’s threat._

_She had to do something. Before her brain could come up with a plan, her legs were already carrying her towards the scene. “Ginny!”, she called. The ginger looked up to find the source of the familiar voice. “Look out! Bellatrix!”, Hermione warned, pointing at the death eater. But it was too late, just as Ginny’s eyes found the dark witch, Bellatrix had already cast a spell._

_“Crucio”, the dark witch growled. A green light shot out from the end of her wand, hitting Ginny in the back. The ginger haired girl screamed in response, rolling and convulsing on the ground in pain. Hermione cried out in horror as she watched her friend being tortured on the cold, hard pavement._

_“Hermione”, Ginny cried out to her. For the first time in her life, Hermione didn’t know what to do. “Help m-me!”, Ginny pleaded through sobs, her eyes wide with fear. The Dark Lord and his followers erupted with laughter. “HERMIONE!”, she tried again. Bellatrix stuck out her tongue teasingly at the girl she was torturing._

_What do I do? What do I do! She could hear her heart beat in her ears and her body was shaking from adrenaline. She looked around at the crowd of her professors and fellow students, silently pleading for help, but none stepped forth. Hermione looked back to her friend, the poor girl was trembling violenty in pain, screaming out with hot tears staining her cheeks._

_“Finish her!”, the Dark Lord commanded. Bellatrix let out bone chilling cackle before nodding and raising her wand to the convulsing girl on the ground a few inches in front of her. Her eyes narrowed, her brow furrowed and her lips pulled back into a grin, revealing blackened teeth._

_“Avada Ka-”_

 

The young witch flung herself upright, breathing heavily as she opened her eyes. The Gryffindor dormitory was dark and quiet, the only noise to be heard were the panicked ones that she, herself, was making. Hermione jumped suddenly when a gentle hand was unexpectedly placed on her back. Her heart beat slowed when her eyes met a familiar face. The ginger haired girl shifted a little closer and wiped a rolling water droplet from Hermione’s burning cheek. The brunette hadn’t even realized that she’d let a few tears loose.

“’Mione, what’s wrong?”, Ginny asked. Hermione waited a moment before answering, giving her a chance to further slow her heart rate and breathing.

Ever since the final battle at Hogwarts, Hermione had been having nightmares. Even though now, months later, all was well and relatively safe again. Voldemort had been defeated, Harry and all her friends were alive, Voldemort’s remaining followers were being temporarily imprisoned (waiting for their fate to be decided by the ministry) and order had been restored to the wizarding world. All was quiet and well, Hogwarts had been fixed up and mostly everyone returned to school to resume studies. Yet still, she had nightmares almost every night and they always told the same story. Each one differed slightly regarding the events that happened in the dream, but the basis remained the same, that Harry truly was dead and Voldemort had won.

Ever since these nightly occurrences had begun, she had been trying to figure out why they were happening. It didn’t make sense to her that she would be dreaming about something that hadn’t happened. They had won the battle. She was safe and she knew that. So why was this happening? So far, she hadn’t found an answer.

Out of embarrassment, she had been keeping all of this to herself. Luckily, no one had been hearing her panicked noises during the night. She would wake up, calm herself, read for a while, then go back to sleep. However, this time she hadn’t been so lucky. This time, she had accidentally awoken her best friend with her night terrors. She hadn’t the slightest intentions of telling Ginny what was really going on, or at least not until she figured out why they were happening.

Hermione took a deep breath before answering. “Nothing. It was just a bad dream”, she lied.

“It seemed like a pretty nasty one, do you want to talk about it?”, Ginny whispered. Hermione smiled slightly at the worry in her friend’s eyes. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if Ginny knew, she’d probably understand.

“Hermione?”, Ginny asked again when the brunette didn’t answer. 

“It’s ok, Gin. I’m fine. Really”, Hermione forced a reassuring smile. Noticing the dark circles and tired look in her friend's eyes, she decided not to get into it tonight. Ginny needed to get back to sleep if she was to do well on her potions quiz tomorrow. Hermione had been helping her study for the past couple days and it would all go to waste if she failed it due to lack of sleep. Hermione, herself, also had a quiz tomorrow, so telling Ginny would just have to wait.

“Alright, but if you change your mind, just remember that mine is the bunk right next to yours”, Ginny smiled, her comment making Hermione laugh.

“Thanks, Gin”, Hermione smiled, a real smile this time. She then slid back under her red sheets, turning onto her side so she could see her friend who was already tucked back in, her ginger hair hanging off the side of the bed. Hermione was very grateful for Ginny, she was the one friend she could talk to about absolutely everything. Yes, she talked to Ron and Harry, but they were boys and there were just some things that they would never understand. She also didn’t see the boys very often, they had decided not to attend Hogwarts after the wizarding war. They were off doing god knows what and only visited every now and then.

Aside from being able to truly open up to Ginny, the ginger haired girl was also funny, kind, smart, trustworthy, brave and loyal. Hermione didn’t know what she’d do without the younger witch, she couldn’t imagine a life without her. Right here and right now, the girl was her best friend.

“Goodnight”, Ginny whispered.

“Night”’ Hermione replied with a smile. Soon after, the two fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since the last chapter was so short, I decided to give you guys a long one! Enjoy :)

“Alright, put away your books. I will be passing each of you a test”, Professor Flitwick instructed.

“Ready?”, a dreamy and airy voice asked. Hermione turned to look at her neighbour.

“Absolutely”, Hermione nodded, smiling at the blonde Ravenclaw. “You?”, she asked. Luna nodded, looking confident and almost excited.

Hermione turned to look at the boy on the other side of her. He was twiddling his thumbs in his lap, his head low. “What about you, Neville?”, she asked. Neville looked up with wide, nervous eyes. Hermione could already tell what his answer would be. She felt bad for him, Professor Flitwick always looked down on the young wizard because of the marks he earned. Poor Neville, charms was his worst subject. If only Professor Flitwick could see how well the young Gryffindor boy was doing in Herbology, _that_ was Neville’s strong suit. His Herbology mark even beat her own most of the time.

“As ready as I’m ever going to be”, he sighed.

The three students thanked Professor Flitwick after being handed their tests. After all the papers were passed out, the professor walked back to the front of the class.

“You have 5 minutes. You may begin”, Professor Flitwick announced from his perch atop a small stack of large books. Hermione huffed and flipped over her paper. She quickly skimmed through the questions, smiling when she realized she knew the answer to each one (like always). School had never really been much of a challenge for her, which often had her wondering why the sorting hat hadn’t placed her in Ravenclaw.

Hermione quickly finished up her test, but took a moment to read over her answers as she still had two minutes to spare. After she was certain she’d pass the test with flying colours, she went and handed it in. When she returned to her desk, she noticed Luna and Neville were still writing, so after she packed up her things, she decided to wait for them in the hall. Their next class was the same, so the trio normally walked there together.

Hermione placed her bag down on the stone floor and leaned against the wall next to it as she waited. As class time came nearer to the end, the space around Hermione grew busier. More and more students piled into the hall as they left their classes and made their way to their next ones. Conversations echoed off the stone walls, rising in volume as more voices were added. The crowd seemed much more lively and happy than usual. Hermione furrowed her brows together as she studied a group of students who seemed particularly smiley.

Suddenly a large mass bumped into her, pulling her from her thoughts. She grunted and looked up at the boy who had nearly knocked her over. Seamus Finnigan.

“Oops! Sorry ‘bout that Hermione”, Seamus apologized. He too, like the rest of the students at Hogwarts, seemed oddly cheerful, smiling down at her.

“That’s alright”, Hermione nodded. Seamus frowned at the sound of her voice, it wasn’t as happy as it should be.

“Are you alright?”, Seamus asked, raising an eyebrow and taking a step closer her to.

“Yeah, why?”, she raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t seem very excited”, he pointed out.

“Why would I be excited?”, she asked, confused.

“Haven’t you heard?”, his eyes widened in shock. Everyone in the school had already heard the news, well, everyone except for Hermione, apparently.

“Heard what?”, she took a step forwards in anticipation.

“We’re getting a new ‘Defense Against the Dark Arts’ professor”, he smiled. Hermione’s face lit up at the news. So far, they had been having a substitute witch as a professor, one that Hermione didn’t particularly like. Come to think of it, not one person came to mind who actually liked the sub. To make the class bearable, Hermione tried to look past it, taking comfort in knowing that this substitute witch was only temporary.

After the wizarding war at Hogwarts, Headmistress McGonagall had had the most difficult time finding professors to teach classes. She had found professors for most except two, a potions professor and a DADA professor. McGonagall had taken to teaching the potions class for the time being, but had asked another witch to teach DADA. Hermione didn’t like the substitute witch all that much and found it quite a task to stay focused during the class. Not that she needed to pay much attention anyways, she already knew most of what was being taught. The material the witch had chosen was far too easy, much better suited for a class full of third years than hers. So instead of paying attention, she brought along an advanced magic book to read as the professor taught. Today she had brought a dark arts book with her. She knew she shouldn’t be reading it, but her curious mind had gotten the better of her.

“That’s brilliant news!”, Hermione’s smile had grown comically wide and toothy. “Who told you?”, she asked, needing to make sure the source was credible. She was afraid of getting her hopes up for nothing.

“I heard it from Draco Malfoy, who overheard some of the professors talking in the hallway”, he said. The source wasn’t as credible as she’d have liked, but she was just too excited not to get wrapped up in the news.

“Ready to go?”, Luna’s airy voice swirled around her head as the blonde walked out of the charms classroom, Neville following closely behind her.

“See you later at the Quidditch match, Hermione!”, Seamus called, waving his hand as he continued on down the hallway.

“Guess what I just heard!”, Hermione was almost yelling with excitement.

“What?”, Neville asked cautiously, taking a step back from the suddenly bouncy and beaming girl.

“Seamus just told me that they’ve found us a new DADA professor”, she told them, watching as their expressions were suddenly lifted with delight.

“Thank goodness! I’m not very fond of the one we have now”, Luna said calmly. The girl’s expressions and emotions didn’t have too wide a range, but Hermione could tell from the slight twinge at the corner of her lips that she was, indeed, happy.

“I don’t think anyone was”, Neville admitted quietly. The trio began walking down the crowded hallway towards their next class.

“I certainly wasn’t”, Hermione shook her head.

“This is exciting, I wonder who it could be? Maybe they asked...”, Luna began to ramble her impossible ideas. Hermione tuned out, her mind flooded with potential candidates for the new professor and before she knew it, they had arrived at their next class, Defense Against the Dark Arts. Hermione hoped that maybe the substitute witch would confirm the rumours, so today, she decided that maybe it would be a good idea to pay attention in class.

She waited and waited, but no mention of a new professor. The substitute rambled on about simple disarming spells that Hermione had already mastered back in her fifth year with Dumbledore’s Army. She watched as the professor asked a question and a brown-haired boy in the front row raised his hand.

Hermione knew all the answers to the questions the teacher was asking but had learnt quite quickly to never raise her hand in this class. Hermione frowned as she watched the elder witch explain to the boy all the million reasons that his answer was wrong and how he should study more because his dullness was an insult to her teaching skills. A couple students snickered at the poor boy as the witch continued to humiliate him in front of his peers.

“Poor boy”, Luna whispered, her eyes filled with pity, fixated on the boy. Neville and Hermione nodded in agreement.

Hermione huffed and rested her chin in her hand. She watched the seconds tick by on the grandfather clock in the corner of the classroom until finally, the class was over. The three students began packing up their things, getting ready to head back to their common rooms.

“Listen up, students. The headmistress has found a permanent professor for this class and you will all meet her on Wednesday”, the substitute witch announced as the trio were finishing packing up. The classroom fell silent, eyes grew wide and the students all leaned forward in their seats with curiosity. Quiet whispers littered the room, guessing and wondering who the new professor could be. “Meaning, that tomorrow is our last class together”, the witch continued as she shot a terrifying look to a few students in the back who had begun cheering.

Hermione looked at Neville and Luna with a big smile on her face. She was so excited that she could hardly contain it, she was already looking forward to all the new things she would finally be able to learn. Her brain craved new knowledge, it had been starving for long enough. She also thought it was important for the students of Hogwarts to know how to protect themselves in case of another attack, which was improbable, but most certainly not impossible.

“This is perfect”, Neville sighed with a grateful smile plastered on his face. “Maybe they finally convinced Professor Firenze to come back and teach Divination and moved Professor Trelawney to DADA”. They shuffled their way out of the classroom and meshed into the herd of students walking in the corridor.

“Maybe”, Luna nodded, squinting her eyes as she looked down the hall at a student headed towards them.

As the student got closer, Hermione recognized him, it was impossible to forget that bleach blonde hair. She noticed Neville and Luna tense slightly as the Slytherin boy approached. After the battle at Hogwarts, the Malfoys hadn’t been imprisoned like the other death eaters. Since Narcissa had saved Harry’s life during the battle and because of Draco’s ever-present hesitation to be truly ‘evil’, it didn’t seem fit to punish them. Hermione had never really liked Draco, but now that he was free of the Dark Lord’s grip, he was infinitely more tolerable and she’d even grown to somewhat enjoy the boy’s company. She knew that him and his mother weren’t monsters like other members of the Malfoy family and she full heartedly believed the tale of Narcissa’s bravery in the face of the Dark Lord. Her friends, however, were still skeptical of the tale and didn’t truly trust the Slytherin boy. They all hung out together quite often, but for some reason, Draco just couldn’t seem to earn their full trust. Perhaps it would take more time for them to ease up on the boy.

“So?”, Draco asked as he approached them. “Is it true?”

“It’s true”, Hermione smiled.

“Thank Merlin”, Draco huffed a sigh of relief. He had run all the way to the classroom hoping to find out if he had been right earlier or not. He was not a fan of the substitute witch either, she treated them all like children and constantly looked down on them as if she owned the world. The substitute’s personality matched quite closely to that of Gildroy Lockheart, although the witch wasn’t famous so the large ego was very out of place. Like Professor Lockheart, Draco was positive that it was all a ruse, she probably had no skill at all and Draco was convinced that he could easily defeat her in a duel. He wanted her gone and it would seem, by the above average joyful demeanour of the hallways, that the rest of the school was in agreement.

“Agreed”, the trio said in unison. Draco joined them as they walked down the hall. Neville and Luna were slightly uncomfortable with the former death eater there, but Hermione was happy, the more the merrier. Luna and Neville would just have to get used to the boy sooner or later.

Since Ron and Harry no longer attended the school, Hermione had been quite lonely when classes resumed, so she had to look elsewhere for friends. In no time, she had formed a new circle of friends, consisting of Ginny, Neville, Draco and Luna. Yes, she had been friends with most of them before hand, but not as close as they were now. Now they sat together in the library, walked the school halls, helped each other study and hung out together quite often.

The four of them walked the length of the hallway, debating theories and possibilities for the future DADA class. They discussed things they wished to learn and what they hoped for the future. Quite a satisfying conversation, it was. It was different from the usual stress of course load or joking about that they normally did.

The four separated and headed back to their dormitories to drop off their books and bags before heading to the match. Neville, Hermione and Luna met up with Ginny and the group went to go sit in the Gryffindor stands because the majority of them belonged to said house. The other students in the stands weren’t thrilled about other houses sitting with them, but none of them bothered to make a fuss about it.

“And team Slytherin”, the announcers voice rang throughout the Quidditch pitch as the seven players dressed in green walked out onto the field, brooms in hand. Hermione stood and cheered as Draco came into view. He waved up at them as he took his place on the field. Luna, Neville, Ginny and Hermione cheered Draco on as he played and gave him high fives after his team had won the game.

“Another win for Slytherin”, the announcer’s voice confirmed. The Slytherin house cheered and jumped in their stands, celebrating their victory.

* * *

 The rest of the evening, the entire school was in a buzz over the news. It was the only subject of conversation after the quidditch match and remained so into the night. By the time curfew came around, Hermione had about a hundred different theories flitting around her head. After such an exciting afternoon, she decided to curl up on the common room couch in front of the fire to write to Ron.

She conjured herself a quill and some parchment. It had been a few days since she’d written to Ron. She missed him terribly, it was hard for her to be apart from him. She had tried to convince him numerous times to come back to Hogwarts with her, but he continued giving her the same answer: no. Even Ginny had tried a few times, but she was given the same disappointing answer that was given to Hermione.

“Coming to bed?”, Ginny asked quietly, poking her head around the corner. Everyone else had already gone to bed, leaving Hermione alone in the common room with her quill and parchment.

“I will be right away”, Hermione smiled. Ginny raised an eyebrow.

“What are you doing?”, Ginny asked curiously as she moved her head around, trying to catch a glimpse at what her friend was doing.

“Writing to Ron”, Hermione turned her head back to her blank parchment.

“Yeah, I miss Harry too”, Ginny admitted, her smile fading. She hopped off the bottom stair and walked over to sit next to Hermione.

“Has he been writing you?”, Hermione asked, looking up at her friend. The glow of the fire lit up the red head’s face, highlighting her cheekbones and nose.

“Not as much as I would like, but there’s nothing I can do to change that. They’re busy, I guess”, Ginny huffed.

“Boys”, Hermione shook her head in frustration. They fell into a comfortable silence as Hermione began to write.

_Dearest Ron,_

_I’ve been missing you more and more everyday. I wish you would come and_ _visit more often._

 

Hermione laughed as Ginny jokingly gagged at her written words. The young Gryffindor had been sneakily reading what she was writing.

“Shut it”, Hermione laughed as she continued. Ginny slouched down next to her, looking at the fire and feeling the warmth of it on the parts of her legs that were exposed out of her night dress. She ran her fingers along the thin but soft fabric. She was the luckiest of the Weasley siblings. There was a tradition of things being handed down in their family due to lack of funding for new things. She was the youngest of all her siblings, so one would think that she would be the last to receive all the used items, which she did. However, she lucked out when it came to clothing because she was the only girl. Ron had been the truly unlucky one, he had always received old and tattered clothing that had been passed down through all five of his older brothers. Meanwhile, all her clothes were new. Ginny smiled to herself, thinking of Ron’s outfit and the Yule ball, he had worn a patched-up suit that didn’t fit him the way that it should have at all. Ginny giggled silently at the memory, then looked back over at what her friend was writing.

_There’s been some exciting news here! McGonagall has found a permanent_ _DADA professor, meaning I’ll be rid of professor ‘whats-her-name’ in a_ _day’s time. Neville thinks they’ve asked Professor Firenze to come back and_ _have simply just shuffled around professors to make it work. He also thinks_ _that maybe they’ve convinced one of Draco’s parents to do it, but Draco has_ _denied it on multiple occasions. But his parents simply didn’t tell him._ _I don’t believe either of those possibilities. I haven’t the slightest clue as to_ _who it could be. Have you heard anything about it from the outside?_ _How have you been? What have you and Harry been up to? I want to hear!_

_Always yours,_

_Hermione Granger xoxo_

Hermione rolled up the parchment and looked over to Ginny who had fallen asleep next to her. Had she really been writing that long? Hermione quickly ran her parchment up to her room, placing it on her nightstand before running back down into the common room to retrieve her sleepy friend.

Soon enough, they were both in bed and slept soundly through the night.

* * *

 The next day could not go by fast enough, it seemed to drag on as if every second was worth two. The talk of the new professor had only gone up since yesterday and the students were hungry for any new information they could get. They were growing more and more anxious the later it got. Hermione was happy when she got to her potions class.

The Gryffindor and Slytherin students piled into the room and took their seats. Hermione always sat happily between Neville and Draco. The professor took her place at the front of the class and began setting out her lesson plan and books.

Potions was her current favourite class and was taught by her favourite professor, Headmistress McGonagall. She had always taken a liking to the professor because she was difficult to please. It took more effort to get good marks in her classes because she was pushed to do better. The headmistress was an excellent professor and was able to teach her different students according to their own individual level of knowledge. Meaning, Hermione was given more work and more complicated potions than everyone else because McGonagall knew that she was perfectly capable of handling a heavier work load than the others and that she needed the challenge.

Hermione had always been closer with professor McGonagall than any of the others. She was very helpful, trustworthy and was capable of having intelligent conversations (which during her years before the wizarding war, provided a nice break from her usually unintelligent conversations with Ron and Harry). It was nice to have a professor that matched her intelligence and appreciation for schedule and order.

Professor McGonagall flashed a barely visible and rare smile at the three of them as she swept her eyes over her students, counting to see if they were all present. After they all had entered the room, she nodded and began her lesson. Today they were learning a new potion that Hermione had read about the night before. After it had been explained, the students were placed in groups of three and headed to set up their stations.

“Ok, we need horsehair, tubeworms and belladonna to start”, Hermione listed from her paper. Neville nodded and went to grab the ingredients as Draco set down a cauldron on the table.

“Do you think McGonagall would tell us who it is?”, Draco asked, the question taking Hermione by surprise as she looked at him over her paper.

“Pardon?”. Hermione had been too busy reading the instructions for the potion and had only caught the tail-end of the sentence. Neville suddenly returned from the cabinet with a few sealed viles in his hands, placing them gently on the table.

“Well, McGonagall obviously knows who it is. Do you think she’d tell us?”, said Draco.

“I bet she would if Hermione asked”, Neville raised his eyebrows at her, silently asking her to do it. Hermione looked over at McGonagall who was helping another group of students. She hadn’t thought of asking the headmistress, it was unlikely she would tell them anything, but it was worth a shot. The curiosity was gnawing at her brain like a pack of hungry gnomes.

“Fine”, Hermione huffed. They got started on their potion as they waited for the familiar noise of clicking boots to head in their direction.

“Stir it slowly, Neville”, Hermione instructed.

“I am”, Neville assured her.

“Slower!”, Hermione warned.

“How is your potion coming along?”, a low voice asked from behind them. A stern, gently wrinkled face peered over Draco’s shoulder to examine the contents of their cauldron. “Stir it slowly”, she advised, eyeing Neville.

“See”, Hermione muttered under her breath at the Gryffindor.

“Better”, McGonagall nodded when the brown-haired boy reduced his pace. Hermione opened her mouth to ask about the new professor but closed it again in hesitation. Draco raised his eyebrows and cleared his throat, urging Hermione to get on with it.

Just as McGonagall turned to walk away, Hermione pipped up. “Professor?”

“Yes, Ms. Granger?”, McGonagall slid her glasses down her nose and looked over the tops of them at Hermione.

“We were wondering if you would tell us who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is going to be?”, she asked shyly.

“I don’t know what you’re on about”, McGonagall shook her head.

“The substitute told everyone you found a new one”, said Draco quickly.

“Well, she was not supposed to”, McGonagall huffed, shaking her head disapprovingly.

“So, can you tell us who it is?”, Neville pleaded with a toothy smile.

“Be patient, Mr. Longbottom. You will all find out tomorrow. I am not at liberty to reveal such information”, she said sternly. “Keep working, you’ve got a long way to go”, she advised, motioning to their cauldron. The three students hung their heads in disappointment and kept working.

“One last ingredient”, said Neville as he hung a vile filled with pink liquid above their cauldron.

“NO!”, Draco and Hermione shouted in unison.

“What?”, asked Neville as he moved the vile away from the cauldron.

“Did you shake it?” questioned Hermione. Neville shook his head.

“You have to shake it first. All the grains are sitting at the bottom of the vile. It has to be mixed”, Draco explained. Neville’s cheeks burned slightly red with embarrassment at his mistake. The vile was then mixed and added to the cauldron. A green fog slowly rose from their concoction, slithering through the air, spiraling in on itself.

“Well done, Mr. Longbottom’s table”, McGonagall congratulated them. The rest of the class looked over at their creation, then continued on with their work. Draco, Neville and Hermione began packing up their things to head to their next classes. In potions class, they were allowed to leave as soon as they finished their work, so the three students happily left early.

Hermione and Neville split off from Draco to head to their last class, which was Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaw house. The halls were quiet as they walked, which was one of the perks of finishing early. It was nice not having to plow their way through the stampede of students trying to make their way to their next classes.

Neville and Hermione were discussing their Herbology homework as they walked, when suddenly a figure appeared in front of them, making the two jump.

“Baha! Scared ya”, the figure teased.

“Peeves!”, Hermione growled. She hated being scared. The little man whirled around them a few times with a laugh, before halting mid-air in front of them.

“Cutting class? I should tattle…”, the poltergeist grinned maniacally.

“We finished our work early”, Hermione huffed, raising her chin and turning the other cheek. She didn’t care for Peeves, he had caused her and her friends much trouble in the past. So, she continued walking, trying not to pay any attention to him.

“Liars”, Peeves spat as he dug a paper out a near by trash bin, crumpled it and threw it at the pair. The ghost then raced off through a wall. The two hurried off in case Peeves decided to come back. Before long, they had arrived at their class and to no surprise, they were the first ones there. The two took their seats and began working on their Herbology homework until the rest of the class had arrived.

Defense Against the Dark Arts dragged on, but the students weren’t as dreary as usual because they knew that this was the last class they would have with this substitute. She took her time explaining the specifics of a spell that they head learnt back in 4th year, she then called everyone up one at a time to try it, making sure to criticize the unimportant details, like their posture for example. Once she had finished belittling everyone, she introduced a new spell.

“Does anyone know what it does?”, she asked. A few students raised their hands. “Yes, Ms. Lovegood?”

“It takes-”, Luna began, but was interrupted by the witch.

“Wrong! It affects your opponent’s accuracy”, she said proudly. Luna huffed and rested her head in her hand, she was going to say the exact same thing. The class continued in such a manner that by the time the class had ended, all the students had rushed out of the room as fast as they could. Hermione didn’t bother to rush because she hated trying to squeeze through the classroom door as everyone else was trying to do the same. So, she took her time to close her books and as a result, she was the last student left in the room.

“Close the door when you leave”, the substitute mentioned. Hermione nodded as the witch disappeared into the hall. The brunette picked up her book and shoved it into her bag.

“Alone?”, a voice asked as Peeves appeared through the floor. Hermione grunted as the poltergeist spun around the room. “Shall we get the brain in trouble?”. A grin slithered onto his face. “The brain never gets in trouble”, he said mockingly as he began moving a desk out of place.

“No! I don’t want any trouble!”, Hermione waved her hands in protest.

“Trouble. Big trouble!”, Peeves laughed. He whizzed to the front of the room and pushed a mug of pens off the professor’s desk. “Yes. YES”, he nodded his head as the dish shattered on the floor.

“Peeves! Stop!”, Hermione pleaded as she moved the desk back into it’s place. The little man didn’t listen, instead, he began riffling through the professor’s desk, scattering papers all over the front of the class. Peeves then headed for the waste basket near the door. “Do I need to get the Bloody Baron?”, Hermione threatened. Peeves froze.

“No, no”, he said quietly before zooming out of the classroom and out of sight. Hermione crossed her arms in triumph.

“What a bloody mess”, Hermione cursed under breath as she began picking up the scattered papers. She began placing them one at a time into a neat pile. A few of them were crumpled but by glancing at what was written on them, they didn’t seem too important. She slowly worked her way across the front of the classroom, following the trail of papers, but stopped when a certain headline caught her attention. ‘Important Notice’, was written in bold across the top of an official looking piece of parchment.

Hermione quickly looked around the room to make sure she was alone before beginning to read the paper.

                          

_The position of ‘Defense Against the Dark Arts professor’ has_ _been filled! Your services are no longer needed after Wednesday,_ _October 12th. Our sincerest thanks for the time you’ve given us._ _We ask that you please meet with the new professor to discuss_ _the students’ progress so far. You will find the contact information_ _below. Please do so before your last day._

Hermione stopped reading for a moment. This was it, she was about to solve the mystery of the new professor. She hoped dearly that it was someone intelligent who could teach the class something that they didn’t already know or that it was someone that was able to give her extra work so that her brain would finally have a challenge. She took a deep breath and continued reading. As her eyes passed over the name, they widened and she quickly clamped her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming.

What? No. No, no. It’s not possible. This can’t be right. I’ve got to talk to McGonagall. This must be some kind of mistake.

Hermione quickly rose off the ground and grabbed her things. She raced out of the classroom with the parchment in her hand, completely forgetting about Peeves’ mess that she hadn’t finished cleaning up. As she walked quickly down the hall, her mind ran wild like a Nogtail. Questions popped into her head one after the other and she needed answers.

Hermione climbed to the second floor and trudged quickly through the gargoyle corridor until she came face to face with the proud stone statue that guarded the entrance to the Headmistress’ office. A password was required to enter the office and luckily, McGonagall had given her the password at the beginning of the year.

She whispered the password and the large stone bird began to move. A hidden staircase slowly appeared, groaning as the stone scrapped along the walls. She knew this wasn’t the best idea, seeing as McGonagall had specifically told her to make an appointment if she wished to speak with her. The professor had trusted her enough to tell her the password, knowing that Hermione would use it wisely and never do any harm with it, which had been true up until now.

Hermione took a deep breath in an attempt to calm the butterflies that flitted about in her stomach. What she was about to do was wrong, so very wrong. McGonagall would not be pleased. There would surely be a punishment for this intrusion, but Hermione was angry and needed answers.

After she had mustered up enough courage, she narrowed her eyes, puffed out her chest and marched up the stairs and into the office. Hermione had always loved this room, it was quite fancy and was filled with so many treasures. When she came to ask McGonagall questions, it was hard to not get distracted by the artifacts that covered the walls while they talked.

The room was fairly quiet, apart from some voices that could be heard coming from the other side of the room. The headmistress was sitting, talking to someone in a red high-backed chair that was across from her on the other side of her desk. Hermione couldn’t tell who was in the chair, only the person’s feet were visible.

“Ms. Granger! What in Merlin’s name are you doing in my office?”, McGonagall’s voice pierced the silence, hitting Hermione with the force of a bludger. Hermione’s confidence shrunk under the sharp glare of the elder witch, who was evidently quite cross with her. Hermione tried to summon her voice, but for a moment it wouldn’t come.

“Is it true?”, Hermione’s voice wavered. A look of confusion washed over the headmistress’ face. Hermione marched forwards as she asked again. “Is this true?”, her voice much louder this time as she raised the parchment into the air.

Suddenly, the person in the red chair turned around. Hermione froze when her eyes fell upon the unmistakable features of the face that was now staring at her.

Her heart stopped as a familiar terror surged through her body, ending on her right forearm. The Gryffindor absent mindedly ran her fingers lightly over the raised skin of the scar that permanently lay there. A phantom pain pulsed beneath her fingers, a memory of the terrible sting that she had once felt there.

Hermione’s face displayed countless different emotions as she trembled in terror, eyes glued to the pale feminine face. The infamous red lips of the woman in the chair curled up into a maniacal grin as black eyes looked over Hermione’s figure through the dark lashes that hooded them.

“So, it is true”, Hermione’s voice was barely more than a whisper as she stood paralyzed in shock. The notorious woman in the chair was her new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

“Bellatrix Lestrange”, she mumbled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love cliff hangers :)  
> Let me know what you think, I appreciate comments no matter how small! They help a great deal!

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to comment! I love getting feedback and it helps me as a writer to better myself. Let me know what you think!


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